I believe that a grace culture is one where we are quick to seek forgiveness, express sorrow and repentance, to offer forgiveness and to seek reconciliation. This reflects the teaching in the Sermon on the Mount which is all about what it means to be saturated in God’s love and grace so that we enjoy… Continue reading Grace Culture – the importance of swift repentance and forgiveness
Category: Church life
Fear, Faith and Coronavirus
As we continue to move out of lockdown, it is important that we have an honest conversation about fear and faith as we move into this next phase of the global pandemic. COVID-19 is likely to be with us for some time to come. We need to be ready for the long game and as… Continue reading Fear, Faith and Coronavirus
The Last Night of the Proms and missing the point
The controversy about the Last Night of the Proms rumbles on. Apparently, Jerusalem, the National Anthem and a version of You’ll Never Walk Alone will be sung by choirs. Meanwhile, Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory will feature as orchestral pieces without singing. That doesn’t sound too bad does it? The music is… Continue reading The Last Night of the Proms and missing the point
How to spot legalism
The other night, we were looking at Paul’s passionate plea and rebuke to the Galatian church, the one where he talks about wishing that the Judaizers would go all the way and just castrate themselves. The question came up about how we spot legalism at work. In the conversation, we talked about how legalism might… Continue reading How to spot legalism
Can I be a faithful follower of Jesus without attending church? (5 Reasons why the answer is “No”)
It is actually the wrong question to start with. Church is not a venue or an event that you attend. Church is the people of God. You don’t attend a church, you are part of the church. If you belong to Jesus then you belong to his family meaning that you are a member of… Continue reading Can I be a faithful follower of Jesus without attending church? (5 Reasons why the answer is “No”)
Was Billy Graham right? Is it just my job to love?
This is one of those quotes that sounds brilliant at first but after a little bit of reflection leaves one feeling uneasy. I guess that when Billy Graham said it, he had Matthew 7:1-6 in mind. In that sense the quote should warn us against the harsh judgementalism that we too often see -especially on… Continue reading Was Billy Graham right? Is it just my job to love?
Get these two words in your regular vocabulary
This is a subject I will keep coming back to because I believe it is so important that we get this right if we are going to see healthy gospel churches. They are “sorry” and “forgive”. Elton John sung that “sorry seems to be the hardest word.” It shouldn’t be should it. We know that… Continue reading Get these two words in your regular vocabulary
How do we allow others to help us remove our logs and specks?
In a previous post I began to build on Steve Kneale’s post on the challenges of “logs and specks” in the eye of the church. Steve said that the challenge is that we often cannot see our own logs to remove them. Here are some further thoughts. First of all, whilst I may not be… Continue reading How do we allow others to help us remove our logs and specks?
Racism is a sin of omission not just comission
One of the things that has been concerning for white church pastors like me in response to some of the discussion about racism has been the level of defensiveness. We want to say that we are not racist and so we get very defensive when people talk about systemic racism going on in our churches… Continue reading Racism is a sin of omission not just comission
More on logs and specks: What is the heartbeat of our church?
The other day, I began exploring the question about applying Jesus’ teaching on logs and specks corporately to churches and communities. Steve Kneale has helpfully developed the conversation here. At this stage I am struck by two very helpful things Steve asks us to think about. The first one is that only true heart change… Continue reading More on logs and specks: What is the heartbeat of our church?
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